Legislation recently signed into law allows any Montana voter to bring a petition placing a minor party on the ballot. It also sets out deadlines for petitions that seek to place a third party on the ballot for statewide elections. The law also requires opponents of a minority party petition drive must disclose spending on the effort similar t...
Bill That Would Aid Special Education Students Nearing Signing
In 2019, the Montana Legislature passed Hanna’s Act which created a statewide missing persons specialist in the Montana Department of Justice to help local jurisdictions with timely searches for missing people. In Helena Wednesday, tribal leaders families victims’ advocates representatives of Montana’s U.S. senators, state legislators and Gove...
Sheridan County Walk-In Hunting & Fishing areas closed
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is notifying hunters and anglers that effective immediately, Sheridan County Walk-In Hunting Area #6 and Tongue River Walk-In Fishing Area #1 near Acme, north of Sheridan, are no longer available for public hunting and fishing access. Walk-In areas are part of the Game and Fish’s Access Yes program. They ar...
Montana Ranked As One Of The Best States For Nurses
With nurses working to administer the COVID-19 vaccine while facing continued PPE shortages and with National Nurses Week kicking off Thursday the personal-finance website, Wallet Hub today released its report on 2021’s best states for nurses. Montana ranks 6th across 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from monthly average starting salary for...
Montana To Start Return-To-Work Program With ARPA Funds
Governor Greg Gianforte says Montana will launch a return-to-work bonus program using federal funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act. Return-to-work bonuses will be paid to unemployed individuals who rejoin the labor force and accept and maintain steady employment for at least one month. The state will end its participation in federa...
Colstrip Bill Gets Taken To State Courts
A new law approved by Governor Greg Gianforte Monday was met by a lawsuit Tuesday with a majority of the owners of the Colstrip Power Plant calling it unconstitutional. It forces disputes among the power plant’s six owners to be settled through Montana courts instead of Washington as currently spelled out by the Colstrip Ownership and Operatio...
Army Corps of Engineers Program Getting Challenged In Court
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Great Falls by environmentalists alleges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program that allows oil and gas pipelines to be built across wetlands rivers and other bodies of water lets companies skirt environmental reviews of potential spills by granting a blanket construction permit. Industry representat...
Give Big Gallatin Valley Virtual Event Begins Thursday
House Bill 429 has been signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte. It requires a majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate to approve of any emergency suspensions of the election laws in the state. If the Legislature isn’t in session at the time, the new law requires the Secretary of State to poll lawmakers on the proposed change in ...
Augusta American Legion Will Return For 2021
The U.S. Geological Survey National Groundwater Monitoring Network has awarded a $110,000 contract to the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology to install groundwater monitoring wells on the Flathead and Blackfeet Reservations and in the Summit Valley near Butte. Additionally about 25 wells in the current statewide observation network will be in...
Department of Revenue Warns Of Tax Return Scams
Governor Greg Gianforte signed two laws Monday nullifying portions of the Colstrip Ownership and Operation Agreement that has governed the Colstrip Power Plant for 40 years. In a tweet, he described the new laws as retaliation against Washington clean energy laws that have imposed a ban on coal power that begins at the end of 2025. Beware of s...